The Great Treasure of Shandalar
by Kiminavi
Summary: Nicol bolas finds interest in a treasure he's heard held on the mana-rich, rogue plane of Shandalar. HE sends his minion Sarkhan Vol to investigate what the dragon has heard to be "The Great Treasure of Shandalar." Sarkhan and Nicol Bolas will soon learn that this treasure is more than they ever could have anticipated.


Authors notes:

A couple things you should know before reading this story:

This story takes place starting in the year 4606. Any magic the gathering continuity up to this year exists. I have done my research on Shandalar, what little there is. I'm very interested in the plane though so it was a lot of fun. I even went ahead and bought the really old comics.

With one exception to the continuity, I made Shandalar completely forget about the multiverse and anything to do with its past involving Sarhmal, Lim dul, and all that stuff. Basically all that Shandalar thinks is that the royal family and the Lords of Colors have existed forever.

Any continuity past this point may appear in the story but **it is subject to change** most likely if it interferes with my story, or if Magic decides to make something really ridiculous up.

I made up a lot of characters to fit in roles, but I will not replace any canon characters in there respected roles with OCs (unless by accident let's be honest there are a lot of really obscure legendary creatures). And plane shifted creatures may happen by accident but so far I think I'm pretty ok with that. There isn't actually a list of creatures in Shandalar, it being one of the more C list planes all I could see were drakes and slivers.

If you have any questions I will always be happy to answer them!

This is my first fan fiction and I really hope you enjoy it. Please leave a review!

The Great Treasure

Chapter 1

From the ground below, Sarhmal's palace towered over the streets of Ardestan. It was now the only building left standing from the time of the battles against the three planeswalkers; Faralyn, Tevesh-Szat, and Leshrac. All were eventually defeated over a time of many years that shaped the rogue plane of Shandalar. For one thousand years, the people of Shandalar have been living innocently unaware of their rich history. Any records of life before the royal family, which rules from Sarhmal's palace, have been lost. The people wander through the multiverse under the protection of a great barrier that protects them from the outside worlds. The people of Shandalar are not completely unaware of the power that resides in their plane. Mana is rich in the soil of Shandalar and so many, if not all, of the people of Shandalar use magic for everyday convenience.

On this particular day, many people were heading in and out of the great wooden doors of Sarhmal's Palace; the smell of dust permeated the air as carriages and caravans kicked up the dirt road. Today, as they did every season, the lords of the dominions, also known as the "Lords of the Mana", gathered at the palace to discuss any problems in the land, significant or petty.

In the main square of Ardestan, it was almost twice as loud as usual. Vendors in the square shouted at the caravans to buy their goods; making it more difficult for the servants of the palace trying to purchase items for the oncoming guests. Children attempting to watch the caravans go by, were being chased by their mothers to avoid the street, or go home to do their chores. All the vendors that had arrived early enough set up their shop near the central fountain in the main square were at the best spot to sell. It was made of stone that shimmered in water; the groundskeepers often placed a spell on it to keep it shining, and the design that spouted water was a simple man holding an orb that spouted water in five directions.

On this day the flag of Ardestan was being flown on each house to pride their city just as the flag from each of the dominions were being flown on each caravan. However, some houses bore a yellow flag on their doorway today and all who passed by one of those homes counted their blessings and said a prayer for their health, for someone in the house that bore a yellow flag, was not as fortunate.

As per usual, Zora awoke with the sun; she had gotten into this habit every day since she was called upon to be the lead healer of Ardestan. She yawned and stretched her arms forward and looked over to the door as a slight squeak came from it letting in a nursemaid. The nurse stood about four and a half feet tall; almost a foot shorter than Zora herself, and her early gray hair was tied back into a bun with her bangs cut evenly across her brow. She was a plump woman with a motherly aura, the type that would be glad to bake you a batch of warm cookies and then smack you with a spoon on your wrist if you ate too many at once. Zora smiled gently as she pulled off the covers and jumped quickly out of bed; eager to greet the maid with a warm hug, who already was prepared with open arms. The first morning Zora approached the nursemaid with an embrace she was not but a child, so the nursemaid excused it; and, in truth, adored it. As Zora became older, she did not renounce the habit; even at seventeen, something about the girl, maybe her smell or the way she smiles, no one could bear to tell her giving a hug to someone was impolite or unsophisticated. The only harm in her embrace was to make the receiver smile like a fool for the rest of the day.

"Good morrow, my lady." The nursemaid spoke, released from the embrace while Zora went to the wardrobe to pick out her clothes for the day. She grabbed two garbs and threw them on the bed.

"Good morrow, Alma. Pray tell, what day of the week is it? The days always seem to blend together. Especially when it is near the days the Lords meet." She thought, looking on the bed deciding whether today it is a green or blue day.

"It's a Thursday, my lady." The nursemaid began to undo Zora's nightgown from the back and passed her a brown dress decorated on the back with the insignia of Ardestan embroidered in gold. "So you will need this when you leave the palace."

"I think I'd prefer the green one," Zora smiled as she began slipping into the green gown, it was a pale color with a white petticoat underneath, it was quite a beautiful with a golden border of ornate patterns at the bottom.

"Miss Gwendolyn will be scolding you later should you be falling into a pit of mud and especially since you are going out today to do your healing, who knows what kind of mess you'll get on yourself!" Reluctantly though, Alma obeyed and tied up the dress, then went to grab a brush and a golden pin with the emblem of Shandalar. The pin was bright gold in the shape of a simple circle painted with white, red, blue, greed, and black patterns all touching a shaped and woven together like a flowerbed of all different variety. She sat on the bed with her legs crossed away from the edge.

"You now Old Gwen, she scolds everyone." Zora as Alma combed the knots out of her hair.

"I know miss, but she always seems harder on you than most." Alma sighed as she stroked the hair more gently. She gave a glance towards the pin, at the moment on her sleeve, "I always did fancy this pin you have. It always reminds me that we live in one great big world instead of all these separate dominions."

Zora sighed as she helped Alma pull back half of her hair. "I've seen all of them with the King and Queen. The Kapsho Seas at Evos Isle are beautiful; Lord Talrand does have much to boast about. The forest of Kalonia and the Eloren wilds are astonishing, and the nature in their forests makes your heart sing with the birds. Certainly nothing will take your breath away like being atop an encampment on the peaks of Valkas. There is nothing more peaceful on Shandalar than lying on the grassland of Thune and watching to the clouds drift by. There's even some beauty, in its own way, by the bogs of Xathrid. But…" she trailed off into another sigh as Zora put the pin in her hair, "Promise you won't tell, but I feel like there's more…. more than just us, just Shandalar. Sometimes when I'm really angry, or scared, it feels like… I'm closer to the stars, like I can feel some strange power pulling me closer, like it's calling me, maybe. I'm probably just being daft, or too many hours working." She quickly shut herself up, feeling like she had said too much. She did not expect the gentle hand on her shoulder pulling her back into a warm motherly embrace that made her smile and brought back her playful mood in a heartbeat.

"Well, either way, I wear this pin because I love all of Shandalar, not just Ardestan!" She spoke with great pride as a child would who had conquered climbing a large tree.

Alma gazed at her in her full form, remembering how each day Zora grew more beautiful. She was normal sized for a woman and beautifully developed; she had probably stopped growing at this point. Her hair was long, down to her mid back, and it usually remained half held in the gold pin while the rest fell loose. It was a dark brown, even during the summer. Her skin was light tan; she tried to get as much sunlight as she could. She knew how it keeps one healthy. She went out once a week to heal the people too sick to come to the palace, so she got some of Shandalar's hot sun then. The girl's eyes were one of the key factors to her demeanor; they were a beautiful green that sparkled whenever she smiled. She was famous for how infectious her smile was. Zora's mere presence made the whole world seem a bit brighter even in the darkest lives. "Be careful today as per usual. Your belt should be on the table where it normally is." Alma spoke more loudly as the anxious teen began squirming out the door. She heard quick footsteps out in the hallway and smiled as she began to hang up the other dress in the wardrobe.

Zora rushed through the stone hallways of the palace, making sure to slow down when she turned a corner with a servant walking by. She quickly reached the medical hall, and walked in smiling brightly. "Good morrow, everyone!" Her energy propelled throughout the room, gaining responses from the nurses, doctors and patients alike.

"Should you not be on your way?" A croaky voice that seemed to be the only one in the room that did not respond the girl's tidings came upon her quickly.

"I'm just checking up on-"

"We don't need your help. And what the hell do you think you're doing, wearing that green dress today, you'll filthy it! You are always trying to make more work for me you selfish little…" Gwendolyn trailed off giving Zora a stern look, the kind that makes someone wonder if this person would rather see them dead. Zora's smile dampened into a look of confusion and surprise. At this moment most people would end up having a sour day or at least not a very good morning, but there was little in the world that could put a halt to Zora. She took a soft breath and closed her eyes a little longer than a blink. _It's all right, just smile. _This was her ritual when something threatened her bright light, and it never failed. She smiled brightly, which caused the confused look to go to the old woman. She no longer wanted a response and instead walked away seemingly disgusted.

"Well, I'll be off then!" She gave a quick wave to any of her patients who smiled and, if they could, they waved back as well. She continued taking deep breaths as she headed out to the hallway. She looked over and spotted the belt just where Alma said it would be. She smiled, thinking of her nursemaid, and no longer felt the need to focus on smiling. She relaxed and felt her quick paced-half-skip walk come back to her naturally. She opened the pouches on the belt; it was made of normal brown leather and could easily be ridden with. _Do I have everything? Mortar and pestle? Check. Sage? Check. Tansy? Check. Buckthorn? Check. Feverfew? Check. _She did this in her head for a dozen more herbs and flowers that she had memorized and would need for her weekly excursion to town.

She made her way through the stone corridors of the palace with as much haste as she could get away with before finally making her way through the great wooden doors of the palace. They were already opened to welcome the heads of the dominions, mostly Talrand, for he brought a different weird sea creature every season to boast about his dominion. He would use his famous drakes, but they are too small to carry all of his "necessities."

Zora began to smile as she turned left outside the door to the stables and caught sight of a familiar creature. "Hollinger!" A horse turned his head from the trough he was eating from. He was a smaller horse and mix between a honey and chestnut brown with a black mane. The only marking on his coat was a single black spot over his left eye. This was the base for his name, Zora picked it after seeing the marking and thought of the war advisor to the king and queen, General Hollinger, who bore a black eye patch over his left eye. He told her once that the scar had actually healed up a long time ago; he liked the style; so he made a patch with see through material. This made her giggle non-stop for days and no one could figure out what had happened. She danced to the horse and petted his nose gently; the stable boy already saddled him up. She climbed on and began trotting out to the main square.

_Maybe bringing Hollinger wasn't the best idea after all_, she thought to herself laying her eyes upon the hustle in the main square. The sheer amount of people lining around the square was quite appalling, the stalls had been moved out to the square for the event. Her timing with going out once a week had never aligned with the seasonal congregation, so she had a trying time challenging the crowd around her. She was preparing to make her way through the crowd, the dust was almost covering a yellow flag on a house across the square; but she needed to get to it. She gave her horse a pat on the side to get ready and he looked back towards her and seemed to understand his mission as he gave a small whinny.

Someone in the crowd shouted something that truly surprised Zora. "OI! IT'S THUR'DAY E'ERYONE! LET OUR ZORA THROUGH!" She could not identify where the voice came from but she could tell it was an older gentleman's. She stopped Hollinger in his tracks as most people in the square stopped in theirs. Caravans and pedestrians alike began making a pathway for her and Hollinger. She caught herself quickly, and began walking as she nodded and let her hand down to a woman who wished to hold it and bless her for her work. Some were actually waiting for Zora all along and they told her where they lived. She reassured them "I promise I will visit every home with a yellow flag today." She was surprised that everyone obeyed the man when she believed even the King could not tame the chaos in the square. She was often waved to and was blessed by passerby's each week but not so respected as she was just then. It felt quite nice.

She reached the first house with a yellow flag on the other side of the square with no trouble as some more passerby's' blessed her for her work. She started with the houses closest to the square for time's sake, and the other reason was because with so many people around the sickness became more serious much more quickly. Some skeptics saw it as nobility first but she never saw it that way. She got down from Hollinger and tied him to the small rickety brown fence in front of the house. A small girl approached her with her mother holding her shoulders behind her. "Don't you have something to say to Miss Zora?" She gave the girl a delicate push; Zora noticed she had basket with her that was filled with different herbs that were not native to this part of Shandalar.

"Yes!" She was seemingly energetic and had bright blue eyes that sung the girls own tune very loudly. The kind of tune that was so energetic you could not help but sing along. "My mommy and me work for The Lady of Kalonia, and we got you these ugly flowers!"

"They're herbs, my lady," the mother corrected, "We've heard so much about your work here in Ardestan, it's simply beautiful, and we thought you may do well with some of the finest healing herbs the Kalonia forest has to offer. I'm personally checking the rooms for My Lady and brought my daughter along with me and we heard you might be around town today. Bless you for being so young and doing such good!" Zora felt so touched after she accepted the basket she put the herbs in her rucksack and tied the basket onto Hollinger's saddle.

"Bless you both for being so kind! These herbs are so splendid and they were surely helping me heal others faster than ever." She hugged them both, smiled, and waved them off goodbye. _Truly,_ she thought to herself, _the world has to be wonderful. I think everyone has a good side… Even Ol' Gwen! _She laughed to herself and smiled, walking over to the front door of the house with the yellow flag and knocked on the door, whispering a little prayer as she knocked.

()()

Sarkhan Vol, at the moment, did not want to see another ugly living plant for as long as he lived. He believed the green marshes he trudged across were nothing but pure evil. He muttered to himself, half curses and half ramblings. He had been the attempted meal of seven carnivorous plants already. Sarkhan grumbled, because his master could have, with his power, simply lifted the castle and take what he sought, but he preferred to work through his minions. He removed his map that Nicol bolas received from, well he honestly didn't know, his master had stuck all of the things he needed in his hand and sent him off. He removed it from his pocket and proceeded to turn it approximately 720° both ways before figuring out his position from the main road. He had another half-a-day's walk before he could make it to Ardestan. He would be cutting it close to the meeting at Ardestan castle and would not have much time to prepare before seeking out his target.

This had been his first mission after the months of healing his mind from the Eye of Ugin on his master's meditation plane. Voices came to him sparsely, but the planeswalker could feel them present in the back of his mind, gnawing to take him over. He shook off the thoughts and stomped on a vine that had dared try to trip him. Oh how he wished to burn this accursed place to the ground, but of course, he had to maintain an air of invisibility, in order to complete his mission that had sent him to Shandalar in the first place.

The plane of Shandalar moved around the multiverse unlike most planes. This was why it was called a "rogue plane." It was harder to track, but the sheer amount of raw power of the plane made it like a shooting star moving across the multiverse. To protect this raw power, nearly 2000 years ago, the protector of the plane at the time, Azar, defeated the necromancer, Lim-dul. Lim-dul wished to seize control over the mana-rich plane, and was ultimately felled. Azar sacrificed himself to do this and used his power to create "The Great Barrier" which still stands today.

Sarkhan's master, the great Nicol Bolas, decided to take interest in the plane after hearing interesting information from his old informant on the plane, a recluse in the capital city. The hermit told his master about the interesting newly discovered item, what is now being called: "The Treasure of Shandalar." The hermit did not know much about it; only that it was supposed to be very powerful and held in the castle. His master sought out this "Treasure of Shandalar", and the dragon guessed the King in Ardestan was using the plane's and this item's power to keep planeswalkers out. Nicol Bolas, however, was not a normal planeswalker and found a weaker point in the barrier where Sarkhan could enter. However, between Sarkhan's weaker than usual power and the barrier itself propelling him, he had landed on the border of the Eloren Wilds and the Kalonia forest.

Sarkhan grew angrier as he stepped on more and more plants, pretending they had a spine as he crushed them. As he spotted the main road through the brush he began running towards it, towards freedom. He never wanted to be imprisoned by anything ever again, and he was not about to let some green, sometimes small, sometimes big and carnivorous, plants keep him here. He tripped and fell onto the main road over a fence of vines that barred the wildlife from the travelers on the road. A large heavy roar came out of him as his face hit the brick road with the same force of the meteor that caused Nicol Bolas to lose his physical form at one point in his life. The rest of his body followed like a wave crashing down, each peak hitting the rocky shore one appendage after the other.

It took him a long minute of tossing and turning to regain his standing as he used his staff to hoist himself up to his feet. It was then he truly realized how he was not anywhere near, in power and knowledge, where he once was before he spent that time in the Eye. He felt himself make a deep sigh that saddened him. He remembered how Nicol Bolas smiled, when he came back from the Eye, about how he always took care of his pawns. He was still waiting for everything to go back to the way it was. Sarkhan was weak now; he was no longer the dragon channeling walker that wiped out entire armies in a single spell, or the fighter that fought beside Rakka Mar against powerful foes. The Eye had changed him; he did not know if he would ever be as powerful as he once was, it scared him. He had lost to a little boy, too big for his cloak, and a hotheaded girl-child. He scoffed as he continued walking along the brick road, trying to recover from the slight limp he had just acquired.

()()

Zora heard an opening latch as the door began to creak open. A young woman was in the doorway, her small too-early wrinkles changing from worry to relief. The woman began a long sigh of relief as she chanted a prayer to her God. Zora smiled and put a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"May I see the one the flag is for?" She spoke hurriedly, she learned after a while that the best way to comfort the loved ones is to make the sick one feel better, otherwise she was wasting time. The young woman nodded her head realizing the severity once again and led Zora hurriedly to the upstairs bedroom. The house was smaller than others in this part of the town and the wooden panels of the floor were cleaner than would be usual for any house from the sweeping of the woman, over and over again, as she mulled over her worries on a daily basis. Zora spotted a man sitting in a chair in the living room looking over a desk, what she noticed though was to the side of the desk. She looked over and felt a pang in her heart as she realized this father had already built half of a coffin for the one the yellow flag was for.

"Come, come" the woman said directing Zora's attention to the staircase once more. The woman grabbed her hand; she did not want Zora to see the sight that shamed the mother. They hiked up the wooden stairs as Zora breathed heavily, trying to calm her feelings from what she had observed.

_Smile Zora._

She sighed once more and plastered the small smile on her face as she reached the upstairs and came into view of the patient. She hoped the smile would make her and everyone around her feel better. He looked two years younger than Zora but he was short, and small stubble had just begun growing on his chin and his chest, laid bare from the blankets he had kicked off. Zora sat in the chair at the woman's direction near the bed where the woman had spent nights waiting for Thursday to arrive. She was close to the castle so it would not be hard to bring him to the medical ward, if she had her husband's approval of it. Zora removed her belt from her waist and set it down at her feet. She checked the boy's heartbeat and cheeks for fever; he was in a fitful sleep.

"What's wrong with him?" She spoke quietly not wanting to wake the boy if she didn't have to.

"He's been with a fever, not a normal one, rashes are on his back and on the bottom of his feet, and I blame the accursed Xathrians!" She began getting louder and Zora turned to look at the boy again; "Damn swamp whore came here trying to sell me-" A strange feeling came across the woman as she caught a glance of Zora's hairpin. A strange spell of remorse and guilt for what she said as she realized that the same sickness goes across the children of the swamps as any sickness near Ardestan goes across the children of the town. She sighed, "Oh my, forgive me, I didn't mean-" She began to tear at her own embarrassment.

"It's alright," Zora smiled at the woman, gently holding her hand, "Sickness affects more than just the patient." Zora did not wait for the woman's blessing, but turned to the boy. She felt his head; he was too hot. She began by setting her mortar and pestle on the side table. She did an inspection of his body finding the sores the woman mentioned. She took out the tansy that would help the sores, the feverfew, to soothe his head and the Sage would help stop sweating.

"Could you warm some water for me?" Zora asked the woman as she placed all the herbs into the mortar. The woman nodded and hurried down to the stairs. Zora began grinding the herbs ignoring the angry voices coming from the first floor. There was the livid voice of the hopeless Father and the weeping of the trying Mother. She finished and rested her tired hand and she gently shook the boy awake.

"Wake up," she spoke gently, "I'm going to need you to take some medicine." The boy breathed heavier and groaned as his eyes opened.

"Am I going to die?" Zora was more accustomed to this question than the sun rising each morning. She smiled gently, his voice was raspy but she could guess was probably very pretty and gentle when he was not ill.

"No, I'm going to heal you. I'm giving you a couple herbs once your mother gets back with the water. I want you to tell me if you start to feel swelling or any sort of weird reaction that isn't bad taste." She chuckled slightly and he groaned with a smile. The mother arrived with red puffy eyes and the warm water in a bowl.

"Mother, did you hear this doctor? She's going to cure me!" He tried to speak loudly but his voice cut on and off. His mother set down the bowl and kneeled by his side holding his hand. Zora smiled lovingly at the sight; she knew this family would one day be all right. She knew in her heart the father would be forgiven for what he did and would apologize to his son. Zora took the bowl and poured the crushed herbs in water and mixed them with the pestle.

"This will be hot and taste sour but I need you to drink all of this, ok?" He nodded and his mother helped him sit up. She breathed deeply as she put her hand over the bowl speaking a prayer before she began speaking her magic. The water turned a twisted and molded with the herbs becoming thick and colored like autumn. She put the bowl to his lips and began to pour in gently. He groaned as he began downing the awful-tasting medicine. He drank all of it and coughed with disgust after he finished it. Zora handed the woman a small batch of herbs and said, "Heat these herbs in water and rub it on his sores with a rag for three days and his sores should be gone. The fever and the sweating were nothing serious. He should see improvement by tonight. If anything goes wrong please try bringing him to the castle." Zora still stayed for another 5 minutes to make sure that the boy did not have any reactions. Afterwards she headed down the stairs and left the mother to watch him. She nearly gasped at the man who surprised her at the bottom of the stairs.

He stared at her, he and then looked at the top of the stairs. "Will he be alright?" Zora nodded. He held out a pouch to her and forced it into her hand. He pushed past her and ran up the stairs, paused, and walked into the room. Zora observed the scene for a small time before leaving.

She felt the cool air of the morning blow as the marketplace continued to bustle with this family's troubles remaining unknown from the rest of the world. She did not open the bag yet, though she knew what it was. She had to accept money if she was offered. Herbs were expensive trades, she had her own garden of herbs in the castle garden but she could not grow them fast enough. She breathed deeply and smiled. She could see the next yellow flag a long ways off. She got Hollinger off the fence and rode him to the next house. Many who knew Zora wondered how many of the sights of the world she could see until the girl would lose her smile, even she wondered sometimes.

()()

Sarkhan continued walking till he finally came upon the edge of the city of Ardestan. He was on the road where he could see the farmsteads around the area; small crops that could partly be sold in town but mostly kept the family fed. One thing surprised him about the city, which is surprising in itself; nothing much surprises a planeswalker, even though Sarkhan was still a young one. The city did not have an outer wall to protect it from outside forces. As he looked upon the farmers on the outskirts of the city, he realized that no one cared. The children ran around playing in the dirt; they did not care of the carnivorous wild, not 100 feet away that nearly ate Sarkhan. The parents worked in the fields, one eye on the children and one eye on crows on the fence of their land, waiting for them to go in for a snack so they could have their dinner.

Sarkhan spotted where the hermit's house was across the large dirt road from the farm. He was to speak with him before continuing to the capital. If everything went according to plan he could steal it either during the meeting or that night. It was dangerous, but less so because he was not attacking any of the nobles, whom the guards would be stationed around. He would grab any information he needed from the recluse, then head on his way. He tried not to talk to people; he avoided it as much as he could.

He walked up to the house, his limp healed, but his nose still in pain. He knocked on the doorframe, the door itself looked too worn down and old to stand any sort of knocking.

The hermit answered, he was old, soon to perish, and too away for anyone to notice or care. The farm across the street would probably pay well to have his property, and were probably only waiting for him to die. His hair was gray that only showed on his beard for there was none on his head, he wore an old robe of faded red; his skin was pale, and wrinkled. "Is there something I can help you with?" he said in a surprisingly calm tone, looking half suspiciously at Sarkhan.

Sarkhan returned the look, "Are you the man I'm supposed to meet with?"

"Depends," He responded, "Who sent you?"

"The great Dragon himself," He hoped he was the right person; he didn't want to have to kill an old man just because he had to blow his cover first.

"May he watch over us," The old man said as he gestured to let Sarkhan into his home, he walked in hesitantly, keeping his head down as he entered the low doorway.

"I'm here to learn about the treasure, I'd rather not pause for long, I have deadlines to keep."

"Of course, you have work from the great dragon." He hobbled over to a rickety wooden chair, there was another but Sarkhan did not like to sit nor was he offered. "What I tell you may surprise you," Sarkhan remained silent as he listened to what the elder had to say.

"The treasure is in the castle, and it is not what it seems, I found out yesterday that this might be something you may not be interested in after all." The old man coughed his breath and continued. "It is a girl."

Sarkhan growled at this, he came all the way here just because some girl discovered more modernized medicine. His master would not be pleased, but at least he was not to blame. "I came all the way here for a local celebrity," he scorned. He would not leave his dragon unappeased. He had been on artifact raids like this before, if there was one thing that upset his master more than false information it was returning empty handed, even the hermit could tell that, only serving the dragon for a few months.

"I heard that the girl has a pin though, supposedly it is magic, and the queen has some nice jewelry. If anything, my own opinion is to place some jewelry in some other nobles' room, make some war, and then the great dragon can take over this plane!" He cackled in laughter. Sarkhan realized that not only was that a good idea, it was a great idea. It would appease his master, and he would get some items.

"Do you know where she sleeps in the castle?"

"Well, I went into town, just yesterday, just for you, and I heard a lot more things. Everyone was more interested in the girl than the seasonal meeting of the lords, for some reason. They talked all about her, her age (It's 17), how pretty she is (supposedly she's pretty but her face is average, everyone just likes her hair, it's a very pretty shade of brown, oh and her eyes are pretty too, a shade of green). I'm rambling." _Thank god he noticed_. Sarkhan thought, "Alright so after listening to that for a couple hours the two got to the topic of her and the king and queen, supposedly she _was_ in the same wing as them until she was named head healer when she was 15 and came of legal age to work for the castle. Now she's somewhere near their medical room in order to be closer to the patients." Sarkhan nodded.

"Thank you I will recommend a higher reward for you when I return to Nicol Bolas. May the great dragon grant you power." He left without letting the hermit respond to his salute. _I can't give him the "Great Treasure of Shandalar," but I can give him Shandalar._

()()

It was late afternoon when Zora had finished her rounds. By the end of it she had used up every herb, even the ones that were given to her from the mother and child. She also obtained enough money to replace every herb she used and then some. The free healing service had been Zora's idea, and was approved when she became head healer, the castle and all the lords decide to put money into the fund as well and set up donation boxes and multiple funding events to keep the program running smoothly. They agreed to this as long as once every season Zora would travel to their kingdom for a week and heal the people of their dominions as well.

Zora sighed; she thought of how much she disliked seafood, surprisingly Talrand loved it. He proclaimed it was the same as a human eating a cow because they too were made out of the same thing and shared the same land. She would have to grin and bear seafood all week. _Smile, you get to go on a whale ride with Talrand and Kalyntri after you settle in._ She did smile at that; she remembered that Talrand was also one of the more fun lords. Each of the lords looked upon Zora as just a part of their dominion as any other noble in their castle. Kalyntri was Talrand's son who he had the same year Talrand killed the dragon, Kalyntri; five years before Zora was born. _ Wait… when was that date again…oh dear! His birthday is always during the week I visit!_ She untied Hollinger and scurried over to the marketplace.

She searched all over, through all the shops, multiple shop keepers from each of the dominions had arrived.

_ "__Do you like Valkas Zora?" Kalyntri said as he looked over at her pin specifically at the red part of the circle. _

_ "__It's really pretty there, why do you ask?"_

_ "__I've never been there but I always wanted to go. Father says it's too dangerous because there are still dragons there."_

_ "__I think dragons are only scary when provoked." Zora defended. _

_ "__You're saying my dad provoked the dragon, Kalyntri?" He playfully grimaced at her._

_ "__We all know the story; he might as well have made a face at the dragon and went nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!" Kalyntri laughed knowingly, and Zora smiled; though neither could deny Talrand's bravery, and love for his people. _

Remembering this she went over to a Viashino marketer, who was selling different strange artifacts from the Valkas area. The Viashino himself was red skinned and looked more reptilian than goblin. He was wearing a loincloth and armor over his arms and knees. This was more common in Valkas, as it was a very dangerous land, and he also wore red scarf around his shoulders that was frayed at the edges. Zora noticed his staff next to him that stood almost as high as he did, she did not get too much of a chance to survey it before she found the perfect gift. It was a helmet that looked big from far away. The horns curved so smoothly, they jutted out and went in at the tips. The horns were perfectly parallel and a beautiful color of bronze.

"How much for this?" she reached to touch the beautiful artifact. Before she could react the goblin grabbed his staff and thwacked her hand with it. "Ow!" She squealed, and recoiled.

"That's not for sale, that's mine." His voice was deep but smooth, he sounded as reptilian as he looked. Were it not for the obvious lack of wings Zora would have taken him for some talking drake.

"Sorry it's very beautiful." Zora said kissing the back of her hand.

"It's the sign of my...well…I suppose you could call it my religion." He thought for a moment and moved on thinking she would not care.

"Oh, that's interesting, what kind of religion?" Zora however, was interested, she understood that this was probably a small tribe of Viashinos that worshipped this religion, but something about the horns made it feel, to her, bigger.

"Just a small tribal religion nothing something like you would actually be interested in." He suspected she just wanted to see if she could butter him up to get the helmet, underestimating her honest appreciation for small things like this.

It took Zora a moment to realize that they were supposed to simulate dragon horns, which excited her even more. She contained her excitement however in order to not upset whom she now observed to be a Viashino shaman. She took a look at his other wares; beads, small mined jewels, rare rocks, and hides hung from the top of the stall. Zora looked at one of the rocks and examined it closely, it was a deep black it glossed and was thin it also seemed fragile.

"That there is a rock from a volcano," He put his finger to his lip and made a quizzical look as if trying to think, though he knew the story of that rock he's been trying to sell it for years. This just made his products look fresher, "the volcano that was Kalyntri's home, before he took over the Kapsho seas, in fact. It's called obsidian; it's made when, well, to put it simply: when lava hits water."

Zora's eyes widened, she took a look at the shaman with awe. _This is perfect!_ "How much is it?" she smiled and practically begged the shopkeeper.

He grinned, this girl was too easy he could get 3 times what the bloody boulder was worth off of her, "For being interested in my religion," which he did discount for (one gold piece), "Twenty-nine gold pieces." He was already surprised as she pulled out a sack of money that was from her side. "You should be more careful with that. Especially on the day of the council meeting, there will be cutpurses about for sure." He was honestly concerned; thieves don't spend money on trinkets like these.

"Thank you, you're right that happens to me often enough as is. I guess I was in a hurry this morning." She counted out the gold pieces from the bag and handed him twenty-nine. "I wanted to ask, if I give you another gold piece, will you tell me a bit about those horns, I don't want to be a bother but I just really like them, even if I can't have them, I want to know more." She held out the extra gold piece.

()()

Sarkhan spotted it, the pin, he had reached the town square and there it was; it glistened against the sun setting in the north. She was short, to him at least, around 5'3, and her hair was pretty, he guessed, it was long, and tied up by the pin. He could feel mana, not one but all five colors radiating from it. He walked closer; he thought he would look at the stall as well and study her a bit.

He wondered and thought for a quick moment, then took it. "Our 'God's' name is Nicol Bolas, he's a great Dragon. We do as he tells us, whatever he tells us, and in return we wish for power to care for our land and – Hello, how can I help you?"

Zora was startled when she felt a new presence next to her. He was tall, around 6'2, almost a foot taller than Zora, she barely came up to his shoulders. He was wearing leather armor, which she assumed made him probably from Valkas, the same as the shaman. His hair was wild and long, he wore beads and charms on different parts of his body, and he too held a staff. _Maybe he's a human shaman?_ She excitedly thought to herself.

"Nothing, I'm just looking." His voice sounded, foreign, not like anything she ever heard before, deep and full of fire. Sarkhan was just glancing at the products and spotted his master's horns.

"Ahh alright, is there anything more you wished to know?" He noticed she had out a pen and paper and was writing furiously.

"G-re-a-t D-r-a-go-n, Could you spell the name for me?" She asked.

"Sure, if you're curious." He was wondering somewhere between: should I recruit her or is someone really going to be interested in something like this? "N-I-C-O-L-E"

"There's no E" Sarkhan bellowed. _Damn_. He was angry he had blown his cover. _I guess it's not so bad it's not like anyone here could follow me once I leave. Although I'd rather not a purge happen against anyone who serves my master on this plane if they figure it out. _

"Oh you are part of this religion as well?" The girl asked. Sarkhan nodded. _She seems gullible._

"It's N-I-C-O-L B-O-L-A-S. I've heard much about you, are you "The Great Healing Treasure of Shandalar?" He tried to act warm and friendly to clear up the name of the "religion" He highly doubted the goblin would be doing any good in that.

"Oh," Zora chuckled, "Yea, but I think it's a silly name, everyone has really good talents on this plane, I'm just good at healing magic." She shrugged. "You yourself look like you are good at magic yourself, well I can sense a lot off of you."

_She can sense me? That's not exactly normal._ "Yea I like to do a bit of magic here and there, mostly it is for studying dragons."

"You study dragons, to be honest I adore them, they are beautiful beasts." The sun lowered and caught in Zora's eye. "Oh my, It's late isn't it? Would you care Mister...?" She gestured to him.

"Sarkhan Vol," Oh how he grinned at her. She was going to invite him into the castle. The hardest part, already done, this was going to be so simple, he could get everything off of this girl.

"Mr. Vol, would you care to join me for dinner in the castle? You must tell me more!"

"I would be honored, Miss?"

"Zora… I don't have a second name really, Zora of Shandalar."

"Miss Zora, It would be my pleasure. He beamed as he turned to the goblin. "May the great dragon grant you power." He saluted as he followed the Zora to the castle.

()()

A servant of Talrand's watched the scene go by._ Was that lady Zora, with a suitor!? Oh no, my lord will not be pleased. I must tell him, immediately! _The servant quickly shoved money at the shopkeeper for the item he was buying for his children and ran off.


End file.
